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Originally Posted by Hawk
I actually enjoyed Books 4 and 5, especially the second time through them when I read them together as one big book instead of reading 4 then 5. All of the most interesting theories and details are in those books (other than R+L = J). They don't compare to the roller-coaster ride that book 3 was, but book 6 has the potential to be that good again.
There are aspects of the books I wish he'd done differently for sure, but overall they are fascinating books. I think you exagerrate a bit on the food descriptions. You can skim that stuff easily enough anyway, and it's not as bad as people make it out to be. He's actually a very good writer. Try reading an Anne Rice book (Interview with a Vampire and sequels) if you want to see bloated descriptions. Oof.
Plus I will always want to read before watching, because I like to read, and reading after watching sucks balls. It is MUCH better to watch after reading than it is to read after watching. That's because reading takes more mental effort and much more time, so it helps a lot to not know the story already when reading.
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I generally can't read the book after I've seen the movie, with a few exceptions. I assume I would have gotten bored with all the minutia and crapped out these fairly quickly, since I got bored with the minutia when I did read them. I especially hated the chapters where I didn't care about the POV character, particularly Sansa. While TV Sansa has become awesome, as far as book Sansa is concerned, I wish they'd killed her and spared the direwolf. And I really disliked the fourth book because it had no Tyrion chapters. Then the fifth one featured him on this long, meandering journey which was even at the time pointless because it was obvious he'd meet up with Dani at some point. The show bore that out by essentially omitting it.
And I'm not saying that Martin is a bad writer. He just needs an editor to trim off the ample fat and streamline the story, and at this point in his career that's just not going to happen. Same with King. Hell, you can add George Lucas to that list as well. Midachlorianes, George? I don't think so.
All I know is I've enjoyed the show far more than the books, and reading the books ultimately ****ed up the show for me. Assuming Martin ever gets off his lazy ass and finishes them, I really don't see the point in reading the last two now. At this point I barely remember the shit that happened in the fifth one that was nuked by the show, and the sixth one will pick up on that and just end up being confusing. Pointlessly confusing.